


Duermete Mi Niño

by xxRiannaxx



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I guess??? I mean we'll see, I'll add/fix tags as I write more, M/M, Slow Build, Trust me fam if this goes the way I want it's gonna be cute, don't really know how long this is gonna be I guess we'll find out together, honestly end me idk if this is gonna work out but I'm hype, warning: cow puns ahead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2018-12-03 05:24:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11525442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxRiannaxx/pseuds/xxRiannaxx
Summary: We find our paladins back in the space mall where they have, once again, caused a scene. Lance's jacket gets stolen by some quiznack in the mall, and he loses something quite precious to him indeed. How will he face the loss?





	1. Chapter 1

“Lance, come on we have to go!” Keith pulled on Lance’s arm as sirens blared around the five paladins. Leave it to them to get into trouble at the mall, again.

“But that quiznack stole my jacket!” Lance began to march forward in the direction of the thief pulling Keith along with him. Hunk grabbed his other arm.

“Lance, buddy. I really think you need to listen to Keith. If you haven’t noticed, we have a bit of a situation here and I don’t really want to stick around to find out how it ends.” Lance turned around to face Hunk’s startled, adrenaline-filled expression which he found on the faces of the rest of his friends. His own expression shifted to determination as he nodded. Hunk and Keith released Lance’s arms. The paladins ran for the exit. Shiro in the lead, Hunk next to Pidge, and Keith stayed close to Lance under the firm belief that he would run off for his jacket again if he didn’t stay close to him.

Pidge huffed as they ran. “I’m really missing that cow right about now. The exit seems much further now that we’re on foot.”

Lance wiped away a fake tear. “Oh, I miss Kaltenecker so much.”

Shiro turned his head over his shoulder. “Well some of us didn’t have the pleasure of escaping this mall on a cow last time, so if you want to see Kaltenecker again you better keep up.” Shiro sped up, the exit quickly coming into focus. Hunk and Pidge looked at each other with a smirk.

“FOR KALTENECKER,” they screamed as they sped up alongside Shiro. Lance glanced over to Keith with a playful grin.

“Race ya to the exit. First one there gets to pet Kaltenecker first!”

“I don’t even care about - “

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Keith Kogane. No one can resist the beauty of that cow, not even you.’’

He sighed, but his eyes lit up. Keith might be able to resist “the beauty of Kaltenecker,” but he sure can’t resist when Lance challenges him. “Alright, _sharpshooter_. Show me how fast you are.” Lance’s smile widened and the two immediately shot off beyond the front of the group.

...

“Ugh, I can’t believe I lost.” Lance looked longingly at Kaltenecker from the couch as Keith pet him. “But I guess this means I still have _**beef**_   with you.” He smirked.

Keith rolled his eyes. “You’re _**udderly**_   ridiculous.” Noticing Lance hadn’t made any noise, or movement for that matter, for what seemed like hours after his pun, Keith turned to see Lance with his jaw practically on the floor. “What?”

“You. YOU MADE A PUN!” Lance fell to the ground clutching his sides and laughing so much Keith was sure the entire castle could hear him.

Keith huffed. “It’s not that big a deal.”

“Dude,” Lance sniffled, “yes it is.” Lance sat up as his laughter died down. “You’re always so serious. It’s nice to hear you messing around and having fun sometimes.” His mouth curved into a smile much too shy for the usually boisterous boy. Keith’s eyes widened and he turned slightly pink.

“I, uh, thanks I guess. I don’t like to be serious all the time, it’s just where I’ve been at for a while given our circumstances.” He looked down and his hands dropped from Kaltenecker. “I appreciate moments like this though where we’re not fighting the Galra or, you know, each other...” He trailed off.

“Me too.” Now it was Lance’s turn to turn pink as Coran thundered into the room with Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro behind him.

“There you are! Alright, paladins. Now that we’ve found Lance and Keith, I say it’s time to rest up! You’ll never know what tomorrow will bring! You’ll all need to be at 110% if we run into the Galra empire! Off to your rooms, all of you!” Coran pushed Lance and Keith towards the door as the others traveled down the hall.

“Since when did Coran assert himself as our dad.” Pidge yawned.

“Hm, I don’t know. I kinda always thought Shiro was the one trying to fill the space dad position.” Hunk chuckled.

Shiro turned around. “Hey, I’m not anywhere near old enough to be the dad of any of you.”

Lance laughed. “It doesn’t matter how old you are. You’ve gotta admit it to yourself, Shiro. You’ve got a dad vibe.”

Pidge stopped at their door. “As much as I’d love to continue discussing just how much of a dad Shiro is, I’m going to bed. You guys might want to hurry up before Coran lectures you on the importance of listening to him again.”

“See ya, Pidge!” Hunk waved.

“Night, Pidge.” Shiro patted their shoulder.

“Goodnight, _Dad_.” Pidge chuckled as the door slid shut. Keith, Lance, and Hunk burst into laughter.

“One of these days, one of you will call me Dad unironically and then I’ll be the one laughing.” Shiro continued down the hall to his room.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure we’ll still be the ones laughing.” Lance called after him in between his giggles. Shiro sighed and disappeared into his room. Hunk crossed over to his room on the other side of the hallway as the laughter died down.

“Alright, night you guys! I hope you dream of food that isn’t green goo.”

“Goodnight, you beautiful marshmallow!” Lance struck a pose reminiscent of a cherub on a fountain. Hunk dramatically threw his leg up in the air in the doorway.

“Goodnight, you flirtatious merman!” The door closed signifying the end to their nightly, over-the-top goodbye. Lance and Keith continued down the hallway in content silence and turned the corner to find their respective rooms. Lance leaned on his door.

“Alright, Keith. I expect more puns from you tomorrow so get ready.”

Keith turned around. “Are you asking me to plan my fun? That doesn’t sound very fun.”  
“Nope, but a pun-off sounds fun to me! Especially since I’ll be the clear winner.” Lance smirked.

“Oh yeah?” Keith smirked back. “Bring it, sharpshooter.”

Lance opened his door and stepped inside his room. “You know I will, samurai.”

Keith opened his door and his smirk faded. “Hey Lance, sorry about today. I know you liked that jacket. It was kind of your thing.”

Lance smiled. “Oh, don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten that quiznack’s face, and he’ll definitely be seeing mine real soon.” His face softened. “But thanks, Keith. Goodnight!” His door slid closed.

“Goodnight.” Keith’s door closed behind him. He stood staring at his bed for what felt like hours before moving. As he stripped down his pants and got under the sheets he couldn’t help but think about all of the bonding experiences he’d been having with Lance lately. Sure, they still had their moments, and Lance still seemed to think they were competing with each other, but more often than not they’ve started to joke and tease in lieu of arguing. He was...glad. He cares for all of the friends he’s made and would do anything for them, and it started to feel like they all actually cared about him too. Even Lance.

Despite the slight increase in his heart rate when he thought about Lance caring about him which he most definitely decided to ignore, he actually felt as though he could sleep for once instead of staying up training. He closed his eyes and his dreams were filled with scenes of his friends laughing and smiling with each other, and when he turned to Lance he was greeted with sparkling blue eyes and the light touches of soft hands. He woke up content, but with a confused flurry in his stomach.

Lance on the other hand was not so lucky. He changed into more comfortable clothes for sleeping and grabbed his headphones, but he couldn’t find his music player anywhere. He frantically searched through all of his drawers and clothes. It was about an hour later when he started to panic. His player was nowhere to be found.

Rather than thinking the worst, he left his room to retrace his steps. He even went as far as the deck to search Blue. Hours later he was forced to face the reality that yes, he had left his music player in the jacket that was stolen earlier today. And with the loss of his music player, he also lost the only recording he had of his Mother singing her lullaby. The only thing that had been able to help him fall asleep since they had left Earth. He ran back to his room and collapsed into his bed. The tears came slowly, then all at once. He cried until he could feel nothing but an ache in his head. He laid on his back staring at the plain white ceiling, the fuzziness of his vision fading in and out until the castle came alive with the sound of his friends waking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, okay, I haven't posted here in a long time and may or may not have deleted my other work. (Apologies! That fic just wasn't working for me and was very poor quality.) I have been much more motivated recently, and I really want to get back into writing since I have begun to rekindle my love for it. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this fic! I have a basic plan laid out, but who knows where this will take me! I've already written some things that I didn't expect to write for the next chapter. Looks like the paladins are the ones taking me for a ride. Anyway, let me know what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback, because I really do want to improve! Thank you and enjoy your day!


	2. Chapter 2

Lance did not want to be training right now. All he wanted was to go back to that mall and find the quiznack that stole his last physical tie to his home. He had no idea how he was going to sleep now that his music player was gone. It had been three days already and he wasn’t sure how much more his body would be able to handle. He thought of his friends. Of course he could talk to Hunk about this, Pidge too, but it was his problem. He shouldn’t have to drag them into it especially since the probability of them being able to find the thief was extremely low. He just has to accept that he’ll never get his player back. His hands clenched around Blue’s controls. He may never have the recording again, but he will get home. He will see his mother again. He can’t let himself lose hope. He wanted to see his family again. He wanted his new friends to meet his family. Shiro, Keith, maybe even Allura and Coran if they felt comfortable with it. As he thought of his friends meeting his family and returning to Earth, his vision began to blur. His eyes fluttered closed as he thought of his family and friends having a big dinner full of Earth food together, laughing and enjoying themselves. The scene quickly changed to him laying on the roof of his home staring up at the stars. Dream Lance turned his head to see Keith laying next to him staring up at the sky, eyes twinkling with the light of the stars. An overwhelming feeling came over him as he stared at the face next to him. He didn’t want to look away. His heart began to beat faster. He rolled over onto his side and began to reach out - 

“Lance, what are you doing?! You almost ran right into me! You could have knocked both of our lions out of the sky!” Keith yelled. Lance jolted awake.

“Lance, Keith, put some space between you two and fall back!” Shiro shouted.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He pleaded as his lion snaked through the sky. “I-uh-I don’t know what’s going on. I think my lion needs some repairs.” 

Allura suddenly came onto the comms. “Paladins, I think that’s enough training for now. Bring in your lions and we’ll take a look at Blue.”

“Copy that, Allura.” Shiro turned the Black Lion in the direction of the castle. Hunk and Pidge followed suit. Lance hovered in place as Keith flew to his side. 

“Go ahead, Lance. I’ll follow behind in case your lion starts acting up again.”

“Fine.” Lance flew behind Shiro as Keith tailed him. Keith’s eyes never left Blue. His eyes narrowed with concern and Red seemed to tense up in response. He knew there was something wrong with Lance but he just couldn’t place it. He wouldn’t just say “fine” like that. It’s Lance. He would have made some sort of comment about how he didn’t need Keith to babysit him or would mock him for making it seem like he cared about him. He wouldn’t just say “fine”. Maybe he was concerned about Blue. Or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, Keith was worried. 

They quickly landed on the castle deck, removed their armor, and exited their lions. Lance’s friends barely had a second to glance at him before they all turned their heads in the direction of Coran’s voice. “Alright, paladins. I’ve made you a spectacular dinner which you can go enjoy while I take a quick look at Blue.”

Hunk perked up. “Yes! I am sooo hungry. Last one there is a lump of week-old goo!” He sped off towards the dining hall. Pidge rolled their eyes but raced after him. Shiro patted Lance on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile as Coran moved towards Lance. Keith stayed frozen behind Lance with an unwavering, unblinking look of concern that could have burned a hole through the side of Lance’s face. Coran looked back and forth between Shiro and Keith.

“Why don’t you two go on ahead to dinner? I want to ask Lance a few questions about Blue.”

“Alright.” Shiro gave Lance one final pat. Lance looked up to smile at him, but whether it was to reassure Shiro or himself - he didn’t know. He couldn’t get his heart to stop racing. Shiro smiled back and looked at Keith. “Come on, Keith. Let’s head out.” Keith remained in his frozen state for a second before blinking and making eye contact with Shiro. He saw concern in Shiro’s eyes, presumably for Lance, and realized he wasn’t the only one who thought something was up. He could get a second opinion.

“Yeah.” Keith looked down as he passed Lance and Coran. He and Shiro walked out of the deck and the door closed behind them. They walked down the hallway, and when Keith was sure no one would hear them he spoke. “So you think there’s something wrong with Lance too?”

Shiro sighed. “I think his homesickness might be keeping him up. He seemed tired which could definitely have an effect on his training. We all make mistakes, especially in battle, but he just nose-dived right into you. We all seem to be dealing with our homesickness in different ways, but at this rate we’ll all be making mistakes or rash decisions that could get someone hurt on a mission...I think we need a vacation.”

“Do you think Allura would let us do that?”

“We’ve made a lot of progress so far. I know she wouldn’t like to stop now, I don’t think any of us would, but pushing ourselves through each mission without a break could be more detrimental to the future of Voltron and the safety of the universe. I’m sure she’ll be able to see that.” They walked into the dining hall to see Hunk swishing some food goo around in a bowl and Pidge resting their head on the table. As he looked at Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge, Keith noticed just how drained his friends looked. 

“Yeah, a vacation could be good for us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that these chapters seem to be so short. I am working on Chapter 3 right now, though! Let me know what you think...I'm always open to critiques and criticisms of course because I want to keep improving! Thanks for reading, and I hope you've had a wonderful week!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry. Life caught up with me and then beat me down real hard. I haven't written in months, so this is some shoddy quality but I'm hoping to finish this work. I hope it's alright, and I swear I'm going to write more!!!!

The door to the deck slid closed. “Lance, what happened out there?”

Lance looked around sheepishly. “Uh, I’m sorry Coran. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Blue I just - I fell asleep.”

“You fell asleep while piloting Blue?”

Lance visibly reddened and rubbed the nape of his neck. “Uh, yeah. It won’t happen again though!”

“Oh no, Lance. It happens to the best of us. I’m just wondering what made Blue try to run into Red.”

Lance got even redder, as if that was even possible, suddenly remembering what he had dreamed about. “Oh, well maybe Blue thought I’d wake up if she got Keith mad at me. I mean, it worked, didn’t it?”

Coran twirled his mustache. “Hmm, quite. Well, anyway! You need to be taking better care of yourself, paladin! Falling asleep during battle would be quite unfortunate indeed!”

“Who would be able to fall asleep during a battle?” Lance mumbled.

“Come on! Let’s get some food in you and then get you to bed!” The two made their way out of the deck and down to the dining hall. They found Hunk, Pidge, and Keith all making various confused and concerned faces at their food goo while Allura and Shiro seemed to be in a serious discussion at the other end of the table. Lance pushed away all the upsetting thoughts of his mother and the confused thoughts of Keith and put on his best smile.

“Aww, you guys! You didn’t have to wait for me to start eating Coran’s gootastic meal.” Lance smirked as he sat down next to Keith and made finger guns across the table at Hunk and Pidge.

Coran puffed up with pride. “Well now that we’re here, let’s all dig in!”

They all began to dig into the goo, the sounds of spoons and chewing somehow drowning out the voices of Shiro and Allura. Keith glanced over at Lance in between bites. He didn’t look quite like himself. Despite his well-known concern for his skin, Keith noticed he had prominent dark circles, not to mention the lack of that familiar fiery gleam in his eyes. He looked tired. In fact, Lance looked like he hadn’t slept for a couple of days. He wondered if anyone else had noticed Lance’s state. He looked across the table to see Hunk already staring at him. Hunk’s mouth curved into a small, soft smile. Keith wondered what he could possibly be thinking since he must have caught him not-so-subtly checking on Lance, but Hunk moved quickly and the next thing he knew a spoonful of goo was flung across the table directly at him. Everyone looked up at Keith’s shocked, goo-covered face and immediately broke out into laughter. Lance almost choked on the goo he was chewing.   
“Haha! Nice one, Hunk!” He turned towards Keith. “Looks like you have to work on your reflexes, mullet! I would have dodged that so eas- “ 

Hunk flung another spoonful into Lance’s face.

Lance slowly turned his head as goo dripped from his face to his pants. “Are we doing this?”

Pidge grabbed their bowl and stood up. “Oh, I think we’re doing this.”

Shiro turned to Allura. “Want to join them? I don’t think there’s any stopping them at this point.”

Allura smiled. “True. Very well, let’s show them what we’ve got. Coran, join our team!”

Coran jumped up brandishing his bowl and saluting with his spoon. “Yes, Princess Allura! Let’s show these paladins what we’ve got.”

“Pidge is on my team!” Hunk yelled as he grabbed his bowl and ducked behind his chair.

“Alright Keith, then it’s you and me!” Lance and Keith grabbed their bowls and ducked behind their chairs.

“Got your spoon ready, Samurai? I’m not about to lose to these two.”

Keith looked into Lance’s eyes. The fire was back. “Heh, I’m always ready.” He smirked. “Let’s get ‘em, sharpshooter.”

Lance’s lips turned up as he swelled with determination. The two nodded and spun around as they jumped up from behind their chairs screaming as goo flew from all sides of the table. By the time their bowls were empty, all of the members of Team Voltron were laying under the dining table laughing, coated in green goo. 

Lance turned to Keith. “We make a pretty good team, huh.” Keith smiled and opened his mouth to respond when Pidge decided to chime in.

“Uh, no. Hunk and I clearly won.”

“You sure about that?” Shiro poked the top of Pidge’s head and laughed.

“Yes, I think the real winners are the Princess, Shiro, and I. We outnumbered you and we don’t have as much goo on us.” Coran pulled some goo out of his mustache.

“You’re all as gooey as we are, Coran.” Hunk chuckled.

“Yeah and besides, Coran. I’m pretty sure Keith and I won. Isn’t that right buddy?” Lance turned to Keith once again.

“You got that right.” Keith nudged Lance. “Sharpshooter here got all of you square in the face at least twice.”

“And mullet here is responsible for most of the goo covering all of you, so I’d call that a win wouldn’t you?” Lance smiled as he got up from under the table, offering a hand to Keith. Keith looked up and took his hand. Their hands dropped but their gazes lingered while the other paladins followed suit and got up off the floor. 

“Hmph. Well winners or no winners we all need to clean up this mess.” Coran began swiping at the goo on his front. Shiro put his hand on his shoulder.

“You got it, Coran. Let’s get this place cleaned up, then ourselves so we can get some rest. Whaddya say, guys?” 

“Yes, Dad.” Lance, Keith, and Hunk burst into laughter.

“Why Pidge, why.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I was gonna update v soon and then didn't I'm so sorry

After cleaning, the paladins headed back to their rooms to change. Goo-covered clothes in hand, Keith grabbed a towel and opened his door. He looked at the closed door across the hall. Lance’s room. Lance. He seemed a little better today after the goo fight. It was really nice to see him acting like himself again. And the look in his eyes…Those deep blue eyes that have such a passion behind them. Keith’s seen so much emotion within those eyes, and seeing them as sad as they were earlier in the day made his heart hurt. He strolled down the hallway and as he turned to enter the bathroom he ran into a towel-clad Lance. 

“Keith! Uhh…” Lance started to turn a little pink as the two of them danced around each other at the bathroom’s entrance. Keith started to feel warmth rising around his ears and cheeks.

Keith huffed. “Alright. You go left, I go right?” The two ran into each other again.

“Keith, your left or my left?!”

“Just…here!” Keith ducked his head as he grabbed Lance’s shoulders and spun them around. Lance was standing in the hallway, his mouth in a small “o” shape and his cheeks turning pinker by the second. Keith let go of Lance’s shoulders but kept his head down. He knew he was definitely red now. 

“Keith, I uhh…”  
“I hope you sleep well.”

“What?”

Keith looked up at Lance. “I said, I hope you sleep well.”

Lance’s eyes darted back and forth, examining Keith’s face while his own continued to heat up. He thought about his dream again. Quiznack. He had to get out of here before making a complete fool of himself. He composed himself and smiled. “Thanks, Keith. I hope you do too. Goodnight!” He turned and bounded down the hallway. 

Keith quickly got into the shower and turned on the cold water. He felt so warm. It’s bad enough his crush on Lance had lasted this long, but now he’s having this much trouble hiding it? Quiznack. He can’t ruin this friendship, they’ve come so far. But he’s so worried about him. He can’t just ignore Lance until he gets himself together. He did seem better today, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. Lance seems to be the kind of guy who hides when he’s really upset and overcompensates to appease his friends. Keith continued to shower, untangling all of the goo from his hair while thinking about Lance. When he was finished, he retrieved his towel, threw his clothes in the castle’s strange equivalent of a washing machine, and headed back down the hall. He lifted his hand to slide open his door when he heard it. Sniffling. Keith turned his head towards Lance’s door behind him. He stood in the hallway looking at the door when he heard it again. Definitely sniffling. Was Lance...crying? Keith walked up to Lance’s door and raised his fist, but before he could knock he stopped himself. Could Keith help him? Would Lance even accept his health? Keith lowered his hand. Maybe he should just leave him be. As much as he wanted to burst into Lance’s room, he couldn’t see that going well at all right now. Begrudgingly, Keith made his way back into his room and his door slid closed into his cold, silent room.

...

The next morning, Hunk opened his door to find Keith staring back at him. “Uhhh, hi Keith. What’s up man?”

“We need to talk.”

“Okay, well come on in. What brings you to my humble abode?” Hunk sat on his bed.

Keith stood in front of Hunk with his arms crossed. “I’m worried about Lance.”

“What else is new, buddy.” Keith turned his head to the side while Hunk smiled softly. “I get what you mean though, Keith. I’m worried about him too. I’ve been giving him his space because he talks to me when he’s ready, but it’s been a long time.”

“He just seems so...sad. That’s not like him.

“Well everyone has their complexities, Keith. But you’re right, he’s been off lately.”

“Yeah...I just wanted to hear your thoughts. Thanks, Hunk.”

“Anytime, buddy.” Keith turned towards Hunk’s door. “And Keith?” Hunk stood up as Keith turned his head. “I’m glad Lance has you.” 

Keith smiled and left the room. For the rest of the day, both Hunk and Keith kept their eyes on Lance. He seemed normal all day cracking jokes and teasing Keith, and he took out every single training bot that came at him. Hunk and Lance finished their training session as Hunk threw a bot to the ground while Lance shot down the final bot behind the yellow paladin.

“Yeah! Take that bots! You’ve got nothing on Lancey-Lance and the Hunkmeister!”

“Haha! You got that right, buddy!” Hunk high-fived Lance. The rest of the team walked down onto the training floor.

Shiro patted Hunk’s shoulder. “Nice work you two.”

“You’re all getting stronger every day. Zarkon won’t stand a chance against the paladins of Voltron.” Allura smiled.

“I agree, Princess!” Coran twirled his mustache. “I think our training is done for the day. You’ve all done wonderfully!”

Allura and Coran shut down the training program as the paladins gathered their gear. Shiro turned to the other paladins. “What are you guys going to be up to now?”

Pidge perked up and smiled. “I’m going to go set up that console we got at the space mall and see if we can get some video games going!”

“Ooooo, yes! I’ll get some snacks for us and bring them to the living room.”

“I’ll help you, Hunk.” Shiro and Hunk left the training room.

“Lance, think you can help me set up the console or at least go get the games?” Pidge asked as they walked through the door.

“You got it, Pidge!” Lance yelled after them, and then he turned to Keith. Keith could have sworn his entire face softened. “Are you coming, Keith?”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t know how good I’ll be though…”

…

“KEITH THIS IS RIDICULOUS” Lance yelled.

“Hahahaha, I don’t know what you’re talking about Lance.”

“YES YOU DO MISTER ‘I DON’T KNOW HOW GOOD I’ll BE’ YOU KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.” Lance aggressively button-mashed his controller as Keith passed him once again. “UGH.” Lance slumped back into the couch and leaned his head onto Hunk’s shoulder. “Hunk, tell Keith he’s being unfair.”

Hunk laughed. “You’re the one who chose Mario Kart, Lance. You just have to accept that you’ve been dethroned as Kart Master.”

“Ahem.” Pidge turned to Hunk and Lance. “I missed the part where Lance was crowned Kart Master. I’m pretty sure he’s lost to me every time.”

Lance opened his mouth as Keith and Pidge started to laugh, but Hunk covered his mouth with his hand. “Shhhhh, Pidge. He’s blocked that out. Don’t tell him” Hunk chuckled. 

Shiro laughed. “And with that I think I’m done for the night.”

“Shiro, no! I want to play you next.” Lance pointed his controller at him with challenge in his eyes. 

“I think you’ll regret that, Lance.” Shiro smirked.

“Oh we’ll see.” Lance smirked back.

One race later and Lance was laying across Hunk and Keith on the couch moaning. “Mmmpghhhhh.”

Shiro looked over to the couch and cupped a hand around his ear. “I’m sorry, what was that Lance?”

Lance raised his head. “I said it’s not fair. You’re supposed to play like a Dad!”

Pidge laughed. “What does that even mean?”

Keith patted the leg Lance had resting on his lap. “It’s alright, Lance. You just need some Kart training.”  
“You need some Kart training.” Lance mumbled. Hunk stifled a laugh.

Shiro stood up. “Alright, for real this time. I’m gonna get some sleep and I think you all should too.”

Pidge yawned. “I think Dad’s right.” Pidge gathered their things, and Shiro sighed as he opened the door. They walked past him. “You know you love us, Shiro. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, Pidge.” Shiro turned to the three remaining paladins on the couch. “Don’t stay up too late.” He smiled and the door slid closed behind him. Lance rolled off of Hunk and Keith and landed on the floor. 

Hunk chuckled and got up to turn off the console. “I’m done for the night too.”

“Same.” Lance groaned. He got up and went for the door behind Hunk. “You coming, Keith?”

Keith looked up at Lance. His eyes were tired and he looked concerned, but not sad. “Nah, I think I might go train for a little.”

Lance’s concern grew. “Alright, but take it easy buddy. You have to rest too.”

He’s concerned about me. Goofball, but still that’s...sweet. Keith smiled. “Don’t worry about me. Thanks, though.” 

Lance smiled back and the door slid closed leaving Keith alone with his pounding heart.


End file.
